Memorial Day

Memorial Day weekend marked the first weekend of summer vacation and we had fun celebrating.  First, Russell had been promising the kids that when he and Emily got out of school they would sleep outside in the tent.  Well on the night of the last day of school, they did just that.  Well except for the tent but they did sleep outside.

This is a picture of them in the morning before they woke up.  Logan and I had a good night's sleep inside on our comfy beds while these three slept outside on an ingenious bed that Russell jimmy-rigged up.  He started to get out the tent but then decided he didn't want to have to fold it back up in the morning so he put some boards on top of our tractor tire and the air mattress on top of that and made this floating bed.  It was so funny looking but they said it was a good bed.  

That next night (Friday, May 23) was the annual Midnight 5K put on by the city.  Russell and I decided to run it since he gets into the races for free and I am half price.  Here we are before the race:

And here we are after the race.  We didn't do as well as we had hoped but we ran the whole 3 miles and kept a good pace.  Our goal was 30 minutes but we ended up finishing in 32 minutes.  That is my worst time ever in a 5K but I guess I should give myself some credit because it is probably pretty good considering I only trained for a week after not running at all for 4 years!  I know Russell could have done a lot better but he said he would stay with me.  We crossed the finish line at the same time and placed 168 and 169 out of 445.  So I guess that is pretty good.  And the best part of races is the free shirts and the end of race food.  After this race we had yummy watermelon, Pizza Factory bread sticks, and Orange Julius.  It was totally worth the race.  Since we didn't place in out age division, we decided to skip the award ceremony and head home.  Traci willingly watched all three kids overnight so we were able to sleep through the night for the first time in forever!  The kids had a blast with Aunt Traci.  They watched movies and played at night, and ate pancakes and went to the park in the morning.  While they were still at Traci's, I went on another run.  I decided if I wanted to improve my time I had better get running more often.  So I have started going 5 days a week having Sunday's off and every other Wednesday or Saturday off depending on Russell's work schedule.  Russell and I have the goal to run a half marathon in November and the full St. George marathon in 2015.  Wish us luck.  This is definitely a commitment.

After picking up the kids from Traci, she invited us to go to the splash pad.  We decided that would be a great idea.

Like always the kids had a blast.  They are like fish and love the water.  This is the first time Logan has been to the splash pad except for when he was a few months old.  Logan absolutely loved being there.  He especially loved the waterfalls.  Colby and Logan played on these waterfalls the whole time.  They would take the watering can toys fill them up with water and then dump out the water and start over.  This kept them busy for quite a while.  Emily just loved being there and did everything with Traci.  This will definitely be one of our frequently visited placed this summer.

My parents and brothers went camping up at Tropic Reservoir over the weekend.  After church on Sunday we headed up there too.  We were just going to spend the night so we didn't bother to take the trailer and thought it would be very adventurous to sleep in the back of the van.  

Well it was certainly adventurous and the kids loved it but it was also quite cramped and not the best sleeping conditions for me.  Russell knew there would not be enough room for all five of us so he brought his cot and slept outside under the stars.  I think he got the better deal!  Anyway it was fun.

The next morning we went for a walk in the meadow next to our camp.  It was very beautiful. (I love this first picture, I think I want to frame it.)

We had a great walk.  We caught grasshoppers and picked wild flowers and just had fun in the cool mountain air.  I love camping.

While we were eating lunch, Colby pointed to the trees and said "Look a deer!"  When we all looked over, we saw that what he was pointing at was not a deer but an antelope!  It was so cool to see this antelope so close to us.  It walked right through our camp as we were sitting there eating our lunch like it didn't care at all that we were there.  We watched it walk through our camp and then through the meadow and down the road.  I couldn't believe it.  I was wishing I had my camera but I didn't want to scare it away by running and getting it.  When the antelope was out of sight Colby said, "The cantaloupe is gone."  We all laughed at his words.

After lunch we decided to pack up and head home.  On our way, we stopped at Tropic Reservoir to try fishing.  We weren't catching anything and the kids were getting tired and fighting so we decided to just hit the road.  On the way home, we decided to go the scenic way through Panguitch, Duck Creek, and Cedar Mountain.  On our drive through Mammoth Creek, we saw more "cantaloupes" along the side of the road:  

These three were not afraid of people either and just let us park on the road by them and take their pictures.  It was so great.

We finally made it home and went we got out of the van, we were blasted with the St. George summer heat!  We wanted to get back in the car and go back to the mountain.  I am not ready for the hot summer yet.  I have been loving this cool spring weather we have been having.  But now ready or not, here comes the heat!

Graduation

The end of May always brings the end of school and the start of summer vacation.  This week Emily graduated from preschool!

On the last day of school her class put on a Preschool Presentation for the parents.  They sang songs they had learned during the year and told us their favorite part of preschool.  Emily said her favorite part of school was "School!"  She has loved preschool and is definitely ready to go to Kindergarten.  She has done so well in preschool and has tested the highest in her class.  She loves to read and help the other kids in her class.  At the last parent/teacher conference her teacher, Mrs. Del Toro (or Mrs. D.), told me Emily was scoring on a first grade level according to the computer program they use to test the kids.  I think that is great for a preschooler but it also makes me a little worried that she will be bored or not challenged in Kindergarten.  We thought about putting her in a local charter school next year but after weighing the options, Russell and I decided to just keep her at Sunset where her friends are.  I hope that will be a good decision and she will continue to love school and not feel bored.

Anyway, back to the program:

After singing their songs and doing their program, they received their diplomas from their teachers.

Here is Emily and her teachers, Mrs D, and Mrs. Lunt.  As a thank you gift, Emily gave her teachers flowers with a note that said "Thank you for helping Emily bloom!"  Emily also drew each of them a picture and wrote them a note.  They loved their gifts.  Also, here is a picture of Emily and her best friend, Brinley.  These two have been friends since the first day of school.  They love having play dates at each others houses after school.  Emily has loved school but told me she is looking forward to sleeping in during the summer!  What a nut!

Another graduate in our family was Chelsie. 

Chelsie graduated from Snow Canyon High School this week.  It was a really nice graduation and the student body even honored one senior who had died the weekend before graduation in a four-wheeling accident.  There was a standing ovation as a member of the class walked through the SC with the kid's picture and diploma.  But the best part about the whole graduation was that it was under one hour!!!!  Diplomas and speeches and everything was under an hour!  I think when I graduated, our principal talked for and hour...    

Anyway we were excited to see Chelsie graduate and be there to support her in this great accomplishment.  Congrats Chelsie, now it is on to college and real life!

Soccer Trophies

Yesterday was Emily's last soccer game for the season.  The Roses did very well this season and, even though we don't keep score, I think they won pretty much every game.  These girls are really good players.  

After the game, we met up at Rowley's Red Barn and had ice cream and a little "end of the season" party. 

 At the party, each of the girls received a trophy and a white rose from Coach.

The coach actually had the moms present the trophies to the girls.  We also had to say what our player had learned.  I said that Emily had learned a lot about playing soccer because she had never  played before.  She also loved playing with and being with all of the other girls and had become friends with them.  

It has been a good season and I think we will do it again next season too.  Colby has even been asking us when he can start playing soccer too.  So next season we might have two soccer players.

Happy Mother's Day & More

Happy Mother's Day to all the women out there!  I had a great relaxing Mother's Day this year full of surprising love notes all over the house from Russell and the kids.  Emily made me a really cute card and picture at preschool and I really enjoyed reading what she wrote in the note.  The assignment was to answer questions about your mom.  Emily listed that I was 90 years old and weighed 70 pounds.  She also listed that I was cute and her favorite thing to do with me was go on Mother/Daughter dates.  Oh and I make the best spaghetti.  When other than the age and weight thing, I think she is pretty right on!  She also painted me a picture of flowers.  It was so cute.  Then Colby made me a flower picture in nursery using his thumb prints and he told me Happy Mother's Day every time he saw me.  Logan was full of love and hugs for me as usual.  It was a great day.

For Primary I made these candy flowers for the kids to give to their moms and the ladies in the ward.  We had the kids take them into Relief Society and Young Women and Nursery to hand deliver the flowers to the women.  The note was in the shape of a leaf and said "Dear Mother all flowers remind me of you!"  It was so fun to had the kids deliver them.  I told the kids to give one flower to each lady but I think some got more than one because of course each child had to give their mom one even if she already had one.  That was okay we had just enough.

After church we went to eat at Chuck-A-Rama with my family.  This has been a tradition ever since I was little.  (Moms don't want to cook or clean up on Mother's Day so we better go out to eat!).

Well on top of Mother's Day, we have had a very busy week.

Russell learned to drive the fire engines this week and was able to pass everything off and get the OK from the chief to now drive the fire trucks.  In the first 5 days of earning this privilege, Russell was able to drive about four times or so.  His first opportunity was a parade for the Special Olympics.  

Russell was able to drive the old Studebaker in the Torch Relay parade for the Special Olympics.  Emily and Colby also got to ride with him as he drove.  They loved being in the parade and especially loved riding in the firetruck.  Doesn't Russell look so cool!

The parade was the Torch Relay for the Special Olympics.  One of the city's police officers ran with the Torch down 100 South in St. George followed by a lot of the athletes.  It was really fun to watch the Relay.

After the Relay, we rushed over to Emily's soccer practice where they were having team pictures.  Here are some of the cute pictures that were taken of the Roses.

It has definitely been fun playing soccer with these girls and getting to know their families.  Emily doesn't really know if she loves playing soccer but she loves being with her team.  

Also, this weekend was our ward's Fathers and Sons camp out.  Russell and Colby had a blast at "Fathers and sons camping."

With the guys gone, Emily and I had our own Mothers and Daughters date.  We also invited Logan because Russell said he was still too little.  Poor little Logan cried when he saw Dad and Brother leaving without him.  It was so sad.

But we had fun anyway going out to eat at Red Robin and shoe shopping for new summer sandals.  When we got home, we painted out toenails and watched a movie then had a big sleepover in mommy's bed.  It was a lot of fun.  Emily said, "I like Mothers and Daughters.  It is my favorite day!"

It looks like Russell and Colby had fun at Fathers and Sons too.  They took the four-wheeler and went for a ride before dinner and then slept like men in the back of the truck under the stars.  Colby also had fun playing with all of the other kids especially his friend Cayson.

Like I said before, Russell got to drive the firetruck quite a bit this week.  There were 3 or 4 fires in town that he was able to go on and drive to.  Below are some pictures of one of the fires this week.

This was a house on Main Street.  Russell had an interesting story to tell about a cat and a snake in this fire...

Let's Play Music

For the past nine months Emily has been taking music lessons through a program called Let's Play Music.  She has loved it and has learned so much about music.  Emily has learned about ear training, singing on pitch using "Do Re Mi...", she has learned about the major scale and where and how notes are placed on the music staff.  Emily has also learned to play the tonal bells and sing.  The class has been really fun.  April 30 was her year end concert and she did so great.

Here is Emily with her music teacher, Michelle Johnson.  Emily loved Ms. Michelle and we are sad to see her move away.  Her husband got a job in Texas so Michelle will not be teaching Emily next year.  We have loved having her for a teacher.  I went to high school with Michelle so it was also fun to get back in touch with her after 10 years!

All of the first year students did so well in their performance.  As you can see, Emily loved being on stage and waved to us as we took pictures and listened.  Any time someone she knew walked in she waved at them too.  The kids sang so loud and good as they sang their songs, did their actions, and also did a puppet show for us.  

As I mentioned before, Emily also learned to play the tonal bells in this class.  Here she is performing her bell skills with Janie, and Kushi.  They played Three Blind Mice as the other kids sang.  They did such a great job for 4-5 year olds.  After Emily and the first year students performed, the second year and third year students did their performances.  It was cool to see how far Emily will come in this program.  In the second year Emily will learn to play the piano and other music theory things like chords and major and minor scales.  Then in the third year, she will continue with the piano and actually learn to write music.  Her final performance as a third year will be to perform a piece she has written.  It will be so great.  At the end of the concert, Emily got a certificate and candy and she was so happy.  It has been a fun year. 

Emily also had another soccer game this Saturday.  These games are so fun to watch because the girls are so cute chasing that ball.  We brought the treats to the game this time which made Emily feel really important!  Emily is also getting more confident and even kicked the ball a few times in this game.  Mostly she just loves being with her friends and playing which is okay with me.  

Finally here are some funny pictures Emily took today.  I still had the camera in the diaper bag from the soccer game so Emily found it and started taking pictures of everything to pass the time while we waited to talk to the bishop.  What a funny girl.